Creative Alliance RWD Foundation Fellowship

The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation Community Arts and Programming Fellowship at the Creative Alliance allows selected fellows to initiate research and content development to produce a significant new project, exhibition, performance, or event. The Creative Alliance builds community by bringing together artists and audiences from diverse backgrounds to engage with art and the creative process.

A champion for local artists and incubator for the city’s burgeoning arts community, the Creative Alliance is a vital cultural force in Baltimore. Since its inception in 1995 and embedded in its name and values, the Creative Alliance’s power comes from collaborations with numerous artists, activists, schools, and partnering organizations.

In 2003, the Creative Alliance redeveloped the vacant Patterson movie theater into Baltimore’s premier multi-arts center, producing more than 400 exhibitions, performances, workshops, films, and community events annually. An arts-driven neighborhood revitalization engine, Creative Alliance’s successful redevelopment of The Patterson transformed the prospects for the once declining neighborhood of Highlandtown. While drawing new energy to Southeast Baltimore, the Creative Alliance produces arts and education programs that promote understanding and respect for the rich cultural traditions of Baltimore residents.

The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation Fellowship was conceived in 2014 and began in 2015 to expand the diverse programming of the Creative Alliance to specifically engage with African American, African, Caribbean, and Latino communities in Patterson Park. The fellowship program began with Tanya Garcia's Despues De La Frontera (After the Border) project in 2015, and Juan Ortiz's Race Recounted [X] Our Voices in 2016. The current fellow is Brooks Long, a musician and music historian.

“Along with working to expand diverse programming with African American, African, Caribbean, and Latino performers and audiences, my major fellowship project, Ru-Jac Records: The Legacy of Baltimore Soul, is a deep dive into Baltimore 1960’s music history. This project uncovers important stories of Black Entrepreneurship and culminates in a celebration of the city’s musical past at the Arch Social Club, the last remaining music venue of its type in Penn North, a neighborhood once filled with venues like the historic the Royal Theatre. I am planning to continue this work with Ru Jac and turn it into a doctoral thesis that might evolve into a published work or documentary and hopefully become part of music curriculum in Baltimore.” - Brooks Long, 2017 Robert W. Deutsch Foundation Fellow